Insect-destroyer.



J. G. HARMON & G. F. WARNING. INSECT DESTROYEB.

APPLIOATION FILED MAY 4, 1914.

1,125,519. Patented Jan. 19,1915.

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I'HE NORRIS PETERS 60., PNOTO-L!THO.. WASHINGTON, D, C.

i "o vrrnnsrarnsrarnnr orruon JOHN C. HARMON AND CHARLES I WARNING, 0FOSHKOSI-I, WISCONSIN.

INSECT-DESTRGYER.

tors or destroyers and the primary objectof said invention is to providea simple, economical and eflfective device of the above charactercomprising an incased poison body having a chamber leading thereto witha comparatively small mouth, whereby access is had to the poison body bysmall insectsonly, such as flies, or the like, but will excludetherefrom humans, dumb animals and birds, to' thus insure safety of thelatter against the deadly eflects of the poison.

V Specific objects of our invention are to provide a reservoircontaining poisonous "fluid and a body in the form of a wick forabsorbing said fluid, the wick being partially exposed within a chamberconstitutinga safety shield, which chamber is providedwith acomparatively small mouth to permit the entrance of insects to the saidchamber, whereby they may feed upon the wick substance to the exclusionof other live creatures; to provide an insect-receiving chamber for thewick so arranged and con structed as to form a protecting shield for anexposed portion of the wick whereby access to the latter is had only bysmall insects, the shield also serving as a protector for the exposedsurface of the'wick against climatic conditions. Thus moisture isexcluded from the exposed surface of the wick, whereby its poisonoussubstance'is protected from dilution to the detriment of its strengthandthe moistened wick is also protected against the drying influence ofthe sun rays and currents of air which would cause the supply ofpoisonous fluid to be depleted by unnecessary evaporation; to providemeans for supporting the wick within a casing containing the poisonousfluid, whereby the surplus fluid supplied to the wick by capillaryattraction is caused to be returned to the body of said fluid; toprovide a perforated or screened surface in connection with the wickca-sing against which the wick is faced for exposure within theprotecting chamber; to provide a construction of casspecification ofLetters Patent.

'bodying Patented J an. 19, 1915.

Application filed May 4, 1914. Serial N 0. 836,062.

ing or tank which is sealed in such manner that the polsonous liquid ischecked from flowing therefrom irrespective of the position of the tankor casing with the exception possibly of a slight seepage through theexposed surface of the wick, which, in prac* tice, would be trivial; toprovide a tank or casing having a shielded protecting chamber inconnection therewith, which chamber is vertically disposed when the tankis in its normal position, whereby insects that are destroyed, due tofeeding upon the poisonous material, will drop by gravity from thedevice.

lVith the above and other minor objects in yiew the invention consistsin certain peculiarltles of construction and combination of parts as setforth hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings andsubsequently claimed.

In the drawings Figure 1 represents a front elevation of an insectdestroyer em the features of our invention with parts broken away andparts in section to more clearly illustrate certain structural features,and Fig. 2, a cross-section of the same, the section being indicated byline 2-2 of Fig. 1. 1

Referring by characters to the drawings, 1 represents a casing, thebottom portion of which forms a reservoir for a poisonous fluid A, whichfluid is preferably compounded from an arsenic base with some pungentsubstance to attract insects, it being understood, however, that anypoisonous ingredient may be utilized for effecting the desired result.

One of the vertical walls of the casing is provided with a strip 2,which strip is perforated or composed of any desirable screen material.The perforated wall strip is protected by a shield-plate 3, which plateforms a vertically disposed chamber 3 having a comparatively small mouth3 at its lower end, whereby minute insects only may enter said chambersuch as flies, mosquitos or the like.

Fitted against the perforated strip within the casing is a poisonousbody in the form of a wick. 4, which wick is confined between theperforated strip and a longitudinally disposed backing-plate 5, the endsof which backing-plate are secured in any suitable manner to the heads 1of the casing. The

' upper end of the wick 4 is confined to the I backing-plate by nestedengagement with a sects.

whereby the wick which is exposed and backed up against the perforatedstrip, is protected by the shield-plate 3. Hence, in order to haveaccess to the wick, entrance within the chamber 3 must be effected and,.owing to the restricted mouth of sald chamber, the latter is onlyaccessible to small in- The lower end of the wick, after passing fromits supporting or backingplate 5, is suspended freely within thepoisonous fluid A, which fluid, under ordinary conditions, is maintainedupon a level below the lower edge of the perforated strip 2. The casingis also provided, in this exempliiication of our invention, withsuspension rings 1, and a cap-closed filling-neck 6, which neck may beprovided with any form of check-valve whereby the poisonous contents ofthe casing or reservoir cannot be emptied therefrom, even though thetank be inverted and the filling neck cap removed. It is also obvious,owing to the fact that the wick forms a backing for the perforatedplate, should the casing be tilted to a position wherein its front wallcontaining the perforated plate would, in eflect, become a bottom, theliquid would not flow out through said plate as the wick would absorbthe major portion of said liquid. Attention is also called to the factthat the wick, being disposed vertically, capillary attraction willcause the fluid to travel upward and any overflow will drop back intothe reservoir portion of the casing from the head of the Wick. Thus acircuit is formed for the fluid which will, at all times, maintain auniform flow through the body of the wick, insuring sufiicientsaturation of the same with poisonous fluid to kill any insects that mayfeed 7 upon the latter.

safety against injury or life, except that of the insects to bedestroyed.

The application of our invention may be varied indefinitelyas, forexample, the devices may be suspended within a building or exteriorlythereof where desirable,

, the said or'they may be'attached toanimals in any convenient positionto protect them against be attracted by the pungent odor and willthus-feed upon the poisonous substance and be destroyed. It is alsomanifest that we may, without departing from the spirit of ourinvention, vary the design of the con tainer or casing indefinitely andthat, as a substitute for the wick and poisonous fluid, a poisonous drybody of any shape may be employed such as, for example, a strip ortablet may be molded, containing the desired poisonous ingredients andany form of pungent substance may be employed for attracting theinsects, which pungent substance may form one of the ingredients of thestrip or tablet or it may comprise a separate element.

lVe claim:

1. An insect destroyer comprising a'horizontally disposed casing havinga closed top and bottom and vertical side walls constituting a fluidreservoir, one of said side walls being provided with a slot extendinglongitudinally thereof, a perforated strip fitted over the slot, abacking strip arranged parallel with the perforated strip, within thecasing, said backing strip being spaced from the perforated strip, awick fitted between the backing strip and perforated strip having an endextending into the reservoir. portion of said casing, and alongitudinally disposed shield having a roof wall and end walls securedto the side wall of the easing about its aperture the lower open edgethe annoyance of insects, which insects will of said shield-plateforming a restricted mouth.

2. An insect destroyer comprisinga horizontally disposed casing having aclosed top.

and bottom and vertical side walls constituting a fluid reservoir, oneof said side walls being provided with an elongated slot therein, a wickfitted into the casing provided with an exposed face abutting the slot,and a shield extending over the wall aperture, the said shield beingclosed thereabout upon three sides having an open bottom end to form arestricted mouth entrance to the shield chamber about the exposedportion of the wick. V

In testimony that we claim the foregoing we have hereunto set our handsat Oshkosh in the county of WVinnebago and State of. Wisconsin in thepresence oftwo witnesses.

JOHN C. HARMON. CHARLES F. WARNING.

Witnesses:

KEATS RICHARDS, ERNE R. SIMPSON.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner ofPatents,

' Washington, D. C.

